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Strawberry Poison-dart Frog "Bastimentos"
Oophaga pumilio "Bastimentos"
The strawberry poison-dart frog from Bastimentos Island exhibits high color polymorphism, ranging from red to yellow or white. It is highly arboreal and requires bromeliads to breed.
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Dendrobatidae
Subfamily:Dendrobatinae
Genus:Oophaga
Species:Oophaga pumilio "Bastimentos"
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
80 - 100 %
Day temperature
22 - 26 °C
Night temperature
19 - 21 °C
UVB
None
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Endemic to Bastimentos Island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama. They inhabit the damp leaf litter of the forest floor, cocoa plantations, and the water-filled axils of epiphytic bromeliads.
Taxonomy and Genetics: Belonging to the family Dendrobatidae. Oophaga pumilio is one of the most polymorphic frog species in the world. The Bastimentos population is famous for displaying a wide array of color phases (yellow, orange, red, green, and white), often with small black spots.
Behavior and Habits: Diurnal, highly active, and semi-arboreal. Males are territorial and vocalize from elevated perches. They exhibit complex parental care (oophagy): the female deposits unfertilized eggs in bromeliad axils as the sole food source for her developing tadpoles.
Morphology: A tiny frog measuring only 1.8–2.5 cm. Morphologically, males and females are very similar. Males can be distinguished by their gray, wrinkled throat skin (vocal sac) and territorial calling behavior.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: A vertical rainforest terrarium (minimum 45x45x60 cm) is required. Epiphytic bromeliads (Neoregelia) are mandatory, as their water-holding leaves are essential for tadpole rearing. Furnish with branches, moss, and a thick layer of leaf litter.
Lighting and Heating: Keep daytime temperatures at 24–27°C, with a night drop to 21–23°C. Temperatures above 28°C are dangerous. Provide bright lighting for live plants and a low-intensity (2–5%) UVB source.
Humidity and Hydration: Maintain extremely high humidity (80–100%). Daily misting (preferably automated) is required. The central cups of bromeliads must never be allowed to dry out.
Feeding and Supplementation: Strictly feed micro-prey, primarily springtails and small fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Dust all prey with a high-quality calcium, vitamin A, and D3 supplement three times a week.
Compatibility: High intraspecific aggression, particularly among males. Best kept in single compatible pairs (1.1). Never mix different locales or species of poison frogs.
Health and Common Diseases: Very sensitive to dehydration and starvation; their high metabolic rate means they cannot go without food for more than 48 hours. Handle only when necessary using wet, powder-free gloves.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Endemic to Bastimentos Island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama. They inhabit the damp leaf litter of the forest floor, cocoa plantations, and the water-filled axils of epiphytic bromeliads.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsCentral America and Caribbean
Amphibian profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 2.5 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Toxicity
- No verified data available
- Life stage
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 2.5 cm. The AmphiBIO v1 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 2.5 cm for this species, recorded as snout–vent length (SVL). These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
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